Influenza And The Respiratory System

Influenza, also known as the flu, is a highly contagious viral disease that affects the upper respiratory tract. Flu season typically lasts between the months of October and April. Signs and symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, runny nose, and headaches. Individuals that are at a high risk of getting the flu include: children under the age of two, persons 65 and older, pregnant women, and persons with a chronic illness. Environment factors can also increase the risk of contracting the flu. Complications can include pneumonia, ear and sinus infections, dehydration, or worsening of chronic medical conditions. The influenza virus could eventually lead to longer hospitalization or death if left untreated. According to the CDC, the best way to prevent the flu is by getting vaccinated each year. Compliance with the vaccination is also important in preventing the flu.

This paper will discuss the communicable disease influenza. It will discuss the causes, symptoms, and treatments, as well as the demographics of interest. It will also discuss the determinants of health and how these factors contribute to the development of influenza. Included in this paper will be information on host, agent, and environmental factors. Lastly it will explain the role of the community health nurse in caring for those affected with influenza and the role they play in education and prevention.

     Influenza has been around almost as long as people have walked the earth. Its roots draw back as far as 412 B.C., when a man named Hippocrates wrote of an uncontrollable outbreak of a disease that closely resembles influenza. This pandemic devastated an entire

Influenza was one of the very common disease seen in war. it was the pandemic 1918- 1919, this year was put down as one of the global disasters. Influenza is a very contagious viral infection respiratory passages causing fever, the effects of this disease are a cough ,sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, always very

Influenza is very contagious and spreads rapidly from person to person. Influenza causes worldwide yearly epidemics. According to World Health organization Influenza affects 5-15% world’s population and resulting in 500,000 deaths yearly. Ottenberg stated that, in United States, an average of 200,000 were hospitalized and 36,000 died each year from influenza complications. Influenza is the sixth leading cause of death among US adults and is related to 1 in 20 death in persons older than 65 years. Disease control and prevention estimates indicate that infections like H1N1 which is one of the types of influenza, have resulted in an estimated 42 to 86 million cases and 8520 to 17620 deaths. As I mentioned earlier that infections like

Influenza, an innocent little virus that annually comes and goes, has always been a part of people’s lives. Knowing this, one would not believe that it has caused not one, not two, but three pandemics and is on its way to causing a fourth! The Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1957, and the Hong Kong

2. Influenza is an acute viral disease of the respiratory tract. It is commonly known as ‘flu. It’s caused

Avian influenza is a disease that has been wreaking havoc on human populations since the 16th century. With the recent outbreak in 1997 of a new H5N1 avian flu subtype, the world has begun preparing for a pandemic by looking upon its past affects. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed three pandemics in the years of 1918, 1957, and 1968. In 1918 no vaccine, antibiotic, or clear recognition of the disease was known. Killing over 40 million in less than a year, the H1N1 strain ingrained a deep and lasting fear of the virus throughout the world. Though 1957 and 1968 brought on milder pandemics, they still killed an estimated 3 million people and presented a new

Influenza is a serious but common respiratory illness. The flu "usually occurs in 15-25% of the world's human population each year. This illness typically has a low death rate, with average overall mortality rates of 0.1%" (Pierce & Black 2008: 1). However, the elderly are one of the more susceptible populations to contracting influenza and suffer more severe consequences than healthy adults as a result of being exposed to the flu.

Influenza is an infectious illness that can be spread from one individual to the next. It can be transmitted by means of saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. It can also be spread by coming in contact with the virus on contaminated surfaces. Influenza is responsible for an average of 36,000 deaths and for more than 226,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States. (Davidson, 2007-2009, Davis, 2007).

Although the majority of people infected with influenza recover completely within a week to ten days, some people are at a greater risk of experiencing more severe and long-lasting complications. The flu can lead to complications such as pneumonia and in some circumstances, severe complications in high-risk groups can lead to death. The number of deaths attributed to influenza varies each year, but it is estimated to be approximately 500 to 1500 deaths per influenza season. People who are at an increased risk for complications include very young children, people over 65 years of age, and those already suffering from medical conditions including bronchitis, heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease. Influenza vaccinations administered to high-risk people reduce hospitalizations, premature deaths, and they result in substantial cost savings to the health care system.

Influenza fortunately can be prevented in most cases. You can prevent it through an annual vaccination. The vaccine is made up of 8 to 10 strains of the influenza virus. When you receive the vaccination the strains have been “killed”, so there is no possible way for you to get this illness just by receiving the vaccination. Your body recognizes the unknown strains and builds up immunity so if a “live” virus gets in your system your body has the correct code to “kill” it off.

Influenza is an infection not microscopic organisms that spreads generally from individual to individual it assaults the lungs, nose, and throat. Youthful kids, more established grown-ups, pregnant ladies, and individuals with interminable sickness or frail invulnerable frameworks are at high hazard.

Influenza is among the most widely recognized reasons for respiratory contaminations in people. It is trusted that there have been episodes of influenza since at any rate the Middle Ages, and potentially even since antiquated circumstances. Influenza infections taint the cells of the upper and lower respiratory tract. Rarely the contamination may spread to the circulation system. Influenza is a noteworthy general medical issue. To be sure, flu infections are the main respiratory infections to cause increments in the quantity of grown-up passing’s in the winter months, in calm atmospheres at any rate. There are three sorts of flu infection - sorts A, B and C. They contrast in the inward proteins that they contain.

A virus that spreads to over three million Americans per year is Influenza, commonly known as the flu. Influenza is a contagious infection of the respiratory tract causing fever, severe aches and pains, and often occurs in epidemics. This virus is one of the ten leading causes of death in the United States. For people with a normal immune system, the disease usually lasts about a week. Usually the only people who have a higher risk of being severely affected by the flu are babies, young children, pregnant women, or people over the age of 65.